2 dead, 3 critical in Florida bus crash

Vehicle carrying members of church group hits overpass at airport

Associated Press

Associated Press

Updated 7:38 am, Sunday, December 2, 2012

Law enforcement officers watch as a bus which hit a concrete overpass at Miami International Airport is hauled away, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012 in Miami. The vehicle was too tall for the 8-foot-6-inch entrance to the arrivals area, and buses are supposed to go through the departures area which has a higher ceiling, according to an airport spokesperson. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Law enforcement officers watch as a bus which hit a concrete...

Law enforcement officers stand next to a bus after it hit a concrete overpass at Miami International Airport in Miami on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012. The vehicle was too tall for the 8-foot-6-inch entrance to the arrivals area, and buses are supposed to go through the departures area which has a higher ceiling, according to an airport spokesperson. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Law enforcement officers stand next to a bus after it hit a...

Emergency personnel attend to injured passengers after a bus accident at Miami International Airport on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012 in Miami. Officials say a bus has hit an overpass, killing at least one person and injuring more than two-dozen people on board. Airport spokesman Greg Chin says the large, white bus hit the overpass going into the airport's arrivals section on Saturday morning. The bus was going about 20 mph when it clipped the roof entrance. (AP Photo/El Nuevo Herald, Roberto Koltun)

Emergency personnel attend to injured passengers after a bus...

A bus is lodged into an overpass at the Miami International Airport on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012. The vehicle was carrying over 30 people when it crashed into the structure. Authorities say buses typically are routed through the departures area, which has a higher clearance. (AP Photo/Suzette Laboy)

A bus is lodged into an overpass at the Miami International Airport...

A bus is lodged into an overpass at the Miami International Airport on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012. The vehicle was carrying over 30 people when it crashed into the structure. Authorities say buses typically are routed through the departures area, which has a higher clearance. (AP Photo/Suzette Laboy)

A bus is lodged into an overpass at the Miami International Airport...

Emergency personnel attend to injured passengers after a bus accident at Miami International Airport on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012 in Miami. Officials say a bus has hit an overpass, killing at least one person and injuring more than two-dozen people on board. Airport spokesman Greg Chin says the large, white bus hit the overpass going into the airport's arrivals section on Saturday morning. The bus was going about 20 mph when it clipped the roof entrance. (AP Photo/El Nuevo Herald, Roberto Koltun)

Emergency personnel attend to injured passengers after a bus...

Workers and law enforcement officers prepare to remove a bus after it hit a concrete overpass at Miami International Airport in Miami on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012. The vehicle was too tall for the 8-foot-6-inch entrance to the arrivals area, and buses are supposed to go through the departures area which has a higher ceiling, according to an airport spokesperson. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Workers and law enforcement officers prepare to remove a bus after...

A bus is lodged into an overpass at the Miami International Airport on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012. The vehicle was carrying over 30 people when it crashed into the structure. Authorities say buses typically are routed through the departures area, which has a higher clearance. (AP Photo/Suzette Laboy)

A bus is lodged into an overpass at the Miami International Airport...

The front section of a bus that hit a concrete overpass at Miami International Airport is shown Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012 in Miami. The vehicle was too tall for the 8-foot-6-inch entrance to the arrivals area, and buses are supposed to go through the departures area which has a higher ceiling, according to an airport spokesperson. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

The front section of a bus that hit a concrete overpass at Miami...

Airport workers look at a bus which crashed into a concrete overpass at Miami International Airport in Miami on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012. The vehicle was too tall for the 8-foot-6-inch entrance to the arrivals area, and buses are supposed to go through the departures area which has a higher ceiling, according to an airport spokesperson. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Airport workers look at a bus which crashed into a concrete...

Airport workers secure a sign after a bus hit a concrete overpass at Miami International Airport in Miami on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012. The vehicle was too tall for the 8-foot-6-inch entrance to the arrivals area, and buses are supposed to go through the departures area which has a higher ceiling, according to an airport spokesperson. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

MIAMI — A charter bus carrying 32 members of a church group hit a concrete overpass at Miami International Airport after the driver got lost Saturday, killing two passengers and leaving three others critically injured, officials said.

The large, white bus was too tall for the 8-foot-6-inch entrance to the arrivals area, said airport spokesman Greg Chin. Buses are supposed to go through the departures area, which has a higher ceiling, he said.

Chin said passengers told him they were part of a group of Jehovah's Witnesses headed to West Palm Beach. Police said in a news release that the group had chartered the bus to take them to a church convention there.

The group was made up of congregation members of Sweetwater's Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, said Sweetwater Mayor Manny Marono.

"This is a tragic accident that has affected many families, as well as our Sweetwater family," Marono said in a news release.

A phone number listed for the center in Sweetwater went unanswered.

At the airport, two large signs warn drivers of large vehicles not to pass beneath the concrete overpass.

One attached to the top of the concrete barrier reads: "High Vehicle STOP Turn Left." The other, placed to the left of the driveway and several feet in front of the barrier, says all vehicles higher than the 8-foot-6 threshold must turn left.

Three people were at hospitals in critical condition. The other 27 surviving passengers were hurt, but their injuries were less extensive, authorities said.